If you are new from Rec or USA Club swimming, or if this is your first time participating in competition swimming, some things may be a different than what you would expect. 

 

All High School pools in our league are set to run 25 yard (scy) races exclusively, while in other leagues a pool may run 25 meters (scm) to 50 meters (lcm). 

 

There are also only eleven events per meet.  One heat is held for each event; one for girls, one for boys, for a total of twenty-two events.  There are no second heats in any event with the exception of multi-team championship meets and JV Heats.  Each team is allowed to enter up to 3 girls and 3 boys per event at the Varsity level. 

 

The eleven events (described below) are:

 

200 Medley Relay
200 Freestyle
200 IM
50 Freestyle
100 Butterfly
100 Freestyle
500 Freestyle
200 Free Relay
100 Backstroke
100 Breaststroke
400 Free Relay

 

During the season most meets will be dual meets against another school.  These are usually schools within our conference and division.  There may be an occasional meet that is with a school outside our division.  These meets do not count toward conference / division standing.  At the end of the season there is a championships meet where all the teams compete. 

 

There are other meets also such as the Sac-Joaquin Sectionals Meet. This meet requires qualifying times that are found here.

 

Here is how a meet is run and scored.  To start each event, swimmers are called to the starting position by the starter (usually a whistle) who visually checks that all swimmers are motionless. When all swimmers are set, the starting horn or gun is sounded to start the race. If the starter feels that one of the swimmers has moved, left early or achieved an unfair advantage, the guilty swimmer may be disqualified after the race for a false start. Should a swimmer inadvertently enter the water before the starting signal, they may be disqualified at the discretion of the officials.

Scoring is for the team with points awarded by finish place in each event. 

 

Point values are:                   1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Individual events scoring:  6    4      3     2    1

Relay events scoring:           8    4     2      -     -

 

In dual meets (two teams head-to-head) there are 14 points available for each of the three relays for 42 points.  Each of the eight individual events has 16 points available for 128 points.  The total meet has 170 points available.  The first team with more than 85 points is the winner.  Be aware that only a few school have scoreboards in their pool areas that display the current score. Ties do occur. 

 

Scoring in multi-team events, such as championships, is much more complex.  First, their are multiple heats per event.  Swimmers are seeded in advance.  Swimmers are placed in heats determined by times with the fastest swimmers swimming last.  The lowest event times determine the finish order.  In multi-team meets the top twelve finishers receive points.  The points system shown in the table below:

 

Place:                         1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th

Individual Events:  16  13    12    11   10   9     7     5     4     3       2      1

Relay Events:           32  26   24   22  20  18   14   10   8     6       4      2

 

Each of the three relays is worth 93 points and each of the eight individual events is worth 186 points. The team with the largest number of points is the winner.  

 

Varsity Competition Events

 

FREESTYLE 

50, 100, 200 & 500 yards

In freestyle events, the competitor may swim any stroke, but the fastest is what is often called the crawl, which is characterized by the alternate stroking of the arms over the water surface and an alternating (up-and-down) flutter kick. On turns and finishes, some part of the swimmer must touch the wall. All swimmers do a flip turn.

 

BACKSTROKE

100 yards

Backstroke consists of an alternating motion of the arms with a flutter kick while on the back. On turns, swimmers turn onto the stomach and do a flip turn (they cannot glide into the wall and then turn). Some part of the swimmer must touch the wall at the turn. The swimmer must finish on the back.

 

BREASTSTROKE

100 yards

The breaststroke requires simultaneous movements of the arms on the same horizontal plane. The hands are pushed forward from the breast. In the return of the arms, the hand cannot go part the waist. The kick is a simultaneous somewhat circular motion similar to the action of a frog. On turns and at the finish, the swimmer must touch the wall with both hands simultaneously. One of the hardest parts of the breaststroke is the start. After the dive, while still underwater, the swimmer can do one pull down, which is an arm pull where the hands can go past the waist, one dolphin kick, and then another arm pull-with a breaststroke kick - to bring them to the surface.

 

BUTTERFLY

100 yards

Some consider the butterfly to be the most beautiful of the strokes. It features a simultaneous movement of the arms over the water combined with an undulating dolphin kick. In the kick, the swimmer must keep both legs together and may not flutter, scissor or breaststroke kick. Both hands must touch the wall simultaneously on the turns and the finish.

 

INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY (I.M.),

200 yards

The individual medley, commonly referred to as the I.M., features all four strokes. In the IM, the swimmer begins with the butterfly, then changes after one fourth of the race to backstroke, then breaststroke and finally freestyle. The rules of each stroke apply to that leg of the IM.

 

MEDLEY RELAY

200 yards

In the medley relay, all four strokes are swum. The first swimmer swims backstroke, the second breaststroke, the third butterfly, and the final swimmer anchors the relay with freestyle.

 

FREESTYLE RELAY 

200 & 400 yards

The freestyle relay events consist of four swimmers, each swimming one quarter of the total distance of the event.